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Justice for the Forgotten rischia la chiusura

Victims group faces ‘closure’

A group supporting victims of the Troubles in the Republic needs 150,000 euro in funding or it will shut down in June, officials have warned.

Margaret Urwni | Justice for the ForgottenJustice For The Forgotten said the Irish Government was reneging on commitments to support survivors of terrorism by denying it a financial lifeline.

Margaret Urwin, who runs the group, said the group had slashed costs by downsizing, moving to a cheaper office and only two staff remain on full-time.

“We can hardly believe that it is going to happen because we were so certain that we could source other funding,” she said.

“We won’t even see the end of June, we have hardly any money left.”

Ms Urwin said the Irish Government was obliged to support survivors of terrorism under the Good Friday Agreement.

The group has raised the funding crisis with Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and has asked for a joint meeting with First Minister Peter Robinson and the Sinn Fein MP.

She claimed an offer for survivors of terrorist attacks to use the Republic’s Victims of Crime office was a diversion.

“That’s just a red-herring to be honest. They have committed to look after victims’ continuing medical needs but that’s only a tiny figure,” she said.

A number of individuals have been approached to ask them for financial support but they have yet to respond.

Ms Urwin said the group was also trying to support people originally from Northern Ireland and now living in the Republic after losing loved ones in the troubles.

The group, set up in 2001 to assist relatives of victims and survivors of terrorism, is planning its annual wreath-laying and anniversary mass at the Pro-Cathedral in Dublin on Monday May 17 to commemorate those who died in the 1974 Dublin-Monaghan bombings.

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René Querin

Di professione grafico e web designer, sono appassionato di trekking e innamorato dell'Irlanda e della sua storia. Insieme ad Andrea Varacalli ho creato e gestisco Les Enfants Terribles.

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